1999-2001 Enforcement Actions under Title VI of the Clean Air Act

Past Enforcement Cases

Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has reached an
agreement with Ritchie Engineering Co. Inc. on alleged
violations of Federal Clean Air Act regulations at the
company's plant in Garrett, Ind. A $20,000 penalty was
assessed. The agreement resolves an administrative complaint
filed in September 2000 alleging that Ritchie made and
distributed its model R60 refrigerant recovery unit without
proper labeling. The company also failed to comply with an EPA
administrative order issued Jan. 13, 2000, telling it to comply
with labeling requirements.

A federal grand jury in New Haven, Conn. returned an
indictment charging five men for allegedly engaging in a scheme
to trade in CFCs. The men are charged with several felonies
related to the importation and sale of hundreds of tons of CFCs
from 1995 to 1998, including conspiracy to make false
statements to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the
U.S. Customs Service; conspiracy to defraud the IRS; filing
false tax returns; money laundering; and conspiracy to obstruct
a federal grand jury.

The United States has reached an agreement with Meyer's
Bakery, headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., to settle
outstanding claims for violations of the Clean Air Act
regarding the protection of the stratospheric ozone for $3.5
million in penalties.

On May 12, Kenneth L. McManus of Denver, Colo., was sentenced
to nine months in prison and three years of supervised release
for violating the Clean Air Act. McManus, who formerly operated
an air conditioning business in Denver, previously admitted
that he imported over one ton of R-12 refrigerant into the
United States without the required import allowances.

EPA announced record enforcement actions and penalties for
Fiscal Year 1999, including $3.6 billion for environmental
cleanup, pollution control equipment, and improved monitoring,
an 80 percent increase over 1998; $166.7 million in civil
penalties, 60 percent higher than 1998; and 3,935 civil
judicial and administrative actions, the highest in the last
three years. Criminal defendants were sentenced to a record 208
years of prison time for committing environmental crimes.

EPA Region 4 has successfully implemented the Agency's
strategy to strengthen enforcement of federal CFC regulations.
From Oct. 1, 1998, to Sept. 31, 1999, 96 parties were named in
enforcement actions, a major increase compared to a total of 9
CFC-related actions filed in the region during fiscal year
1998. Under this strategy, Region 4 has filed more enforcement
actions than any other EPA region in the country.

November 17, 1999: EPA
Actions Against Businesses in Region 9

EPA today announced enforcement actions against a fast-food
restaurant chain in California, a residential air conditioning
service company in Arizona, a motor vehicle air conditioning
service shop in Hawaii, and a recycling/disposal business in
Hawaii for Clean Air Act regulations regarding handling and
disposal of stratospheric ozone-depleting chemicals.

November 9, 1999: EPA
Reaches Agreement with Cohen; Lifts 'Cease and Desist' Order

EPA Region 5 has recently reached an agreement with Cohen
International Scrap Processors (990 West 5th St., Cincinnati,
OH) that lifts an EPA "cease and desist" order issued in April
1998 telling the company to stop accepting and processing
appliances containing refrigerants.

EPA Region 5 has recently ordered 12 Wisconsin auto
businesses to comply with Federal regulations designed to
protect the stratospheric, or "good," ozone layer from the
harmful effects of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants.

August 11, 1999: Thirty-six
Companies in the Southeast Cited in EPA Enforcement Initiative
Under the Federal Clean Air Act

EPA has taken enforcement action against 36 companies in the
Southeast as part of the Agency's Chlorofluorocarbons Motor
Vehicle Air Conditioner (CFC MVAC) enforcement initiative under
the Federal Clean Air Act. Twenty-five of the companies
received Administrative Orders (AOs) and eleven received
Administrative Penalty Orders (APOs).

EPA Region 5 has recently reached an agreement with General
Iron Industries, Inc., that requires the company to stop all
releases of refrigerants at the company's scrap-processing
yard, 1909 North Clifton Ave., Chicago.

As part of an ongoing federal initiative to crack down on
trafficking in chemicals that destroy the Earth's ozone layer,
federal agents in San Antonio late last night arrested Richard
Schmolke on charges that he smuggled CFC-12 into the United
States in violation of the Clean Air Act and federal Customs
law.

American Water Heater Co. of Reno has been fined $107,981 by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for allegedly failing
to file reports estimating its releases of toxic chemical
compounds, a violation of the federal Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act.